


Crooked Wands, Snakes, And Aggressive Flirting

by LaceyBarbedWire



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, BAMF Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Bottom Harry, But like...a minute before, F/F, Female Harry Potter, Female Tom Riddle, Lesbian Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Mostly Voldemort, OOC, Polyamory, Pre-Marauders Era (Harry Potter), They're little firsties, Time Travel, playing fast and loose with canon timeline, trigger warning: drink tampering (4th chapter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-27 11:28:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30122070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaceyBarbedWire/pseuds/LaceyBarbedWire
Summary: Lily and James were young and trusting, but they weren't dumb. They made a provision in their will that if something horrific were to happen (like, say, Voldemort dying then coming back) for their daughter to receive the family's ancient, magical, Doomsday Chest.They just weren't planning on it tossing her back into 1967. Or that she'd be so easily flustered, distracted, and swayed when faced with certain Purebloods destined to be monsters.Begins at the fifth chapter of the sixth book.
Relationships: Bellatrix Black Lestrange/Harry Potter, Bellatrix Black Lestrange/Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle
Comments: 21
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

Violet stared at the second owl. The first had been carrying her O.W.L. results, and had left with the ones that had been carrying Ron and Hermione’s once they’d been relieved of their letters, but she didn’t recognize this one. 

“Can’t be anything bad.” Ron reasoned. “Ministry checks everything before it gets here, since Dad’s a department head and, well, you’re here a lot.” Violet nodded, and quickly removed the letter. 

_ To Ms. Violet Ravenna Potter,  _

_ Recent events in the world have triggered a provisional portion of your parents’ will, and as such we request your presence at your earliest convenience.  _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Gringotts Bank _

“I’m supposed to go to Gringotts apparently.” Violet said, blinking rapidly. “Looks like my parents had something in their will that just got triggered by ‘recent events in the world’.” She frowned, wondering what, exactly, that meant. Nobody had ever said anything about her parents being seers or the like, so what exactly had they predicted that required a special portion of their will?

“I can take you.” Fleur offered. “I have access to the Gringotts Floo. First two floors only, but it will get you in.” Mrs. Weasley looked torn between genuine gratitude and her distaste for the French witch, and settled on nodding shortly.

“Thank you. I will have to let the Ministry know you’re moving though, just a moment, I’ll talk to Arthur.” She said, exiting the kitchen to head towards the living room and the fireplace. Fleur gave a small smile and left as well, leaving Violet with Ron and Hermione. 

“You’ll let us know, whatever it is?” Hermione asked. She looked worried, though admittedly she’d been worrying about Violet since she’d told them about the prophecy earlier. Maybe even before...probably even before, if Violet was being honest. 

“Of course.” She said quickly, nodding. “Maybe it’ll be a magic sword.” She chuckled, putting a bright spin on it. Ron perked up. 

“The Potter family  _ is _ really old.” He told her. “It might actually be a weapon or something, that they marked to bring out if a war happened while you were alive.” Violet wrinkled her nose.

“I mean...what’s better than a wand?” She asked. “A sword can’t attack from a distance or anything.” And that was how she got a lecture from Hermione  _ and _ Ron about the legacy and importance of magical weapons until Mrs. Weasley came to rescue her an hour later so Fleur could take her to Gringotts. 

Once at Gringotts, Fleur had led her off to meet with one of the Goblins, a rather austere looking older fellow by the name of Holhook. As she said goodbye to Fleur, Violet vaguely wondered if Ginny and Hermione were upset she didn’t have the same instinctive, negative reaction to the part Veela, or if they’d expected it. She brushed that aside as unimportant in the moment, and instead focused on following Holhook.

“Thank you for coming so promptly Miss Potter.” The Goblin said brusquely as he led her through a confusing and downward mass of corridors. Probably purposefully confusing, which made sense she supposed. “So few wizards understand the value of time.” 

“It wasn’t a problem.” Violet said quickly, nodding as she followed him into a small room. At the center of said room was a table, and on the table was a rather large wooden trunk the color of rust. She blinked. Whatever she’d expected, it wasn’t this. Holhook handed her a sealed envelope. 

“Your parents’ will states that the contents of this letter, and the trunk, are to be viewed by you and you alone.” The Goblin said as Violet turned the letter over in her hands. “Once I leave this door will be sealed, and will not be opened again until you knock on the door four times. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Violet said quickly, nodding. Holhook nodded sharply and left the room, closing the door with a loud thud. She stared at the letter, turning it over and over again in her hands. She’d never read anything written by her parents before, not either of them. She didn’t blame them for not writing ‘in case we die’ letters. They’d been young, not a whole lot older than she was now, and there’d been no real reason to believe that she’d manage to live if they died. As far as she knew her mother’s sacrifice had been a spur of the moment thing, not some sort of plan. 

She shook her head shortly. She was getting lost in her thoughts and ignoring what was in front of her again. She needed to focus. Taking a deep breath, she opened the envelope. 

_ Dearest Violet, _

_ If you’re reading this it means two things have happened. The first is that we have died, and the second is that one of what your dad termed ‘Holy shit holy shit Oh Merlin holy shit’ events has occurred (at the time I’m writing this there are seven, but we may think of more before you read this).  _

_ The chest before you is known as the Doomsday Chest, and is an artifact of the Potter family, created by our (well, their, I’m only a Potter by marriage obviously) ancestor, Ignotus Peverell, and his two brothers. They were all skilled enchanters, masters at magical crafting, and it is said that it is only to be opened by a member of the family in the direst of circumstances. We allowed Professor Dumbledore to examine it. He did so twice, the second time with a man named Nicholas Flamel (don’t know if you’ve heard of him or not) and confirmed that it is still magical and should be functional, though neither were able to tell what it does.  _

_ If it has lasted this long it should still be functional when you read this. Please believe us when we say that we planned this out carefully, and would not have recommended this if it were not something we believed to be truly safe, and the circumstances driving this part of our will to be activated truly dire.  _

_ Be careful, be safe, and know that we love you, my darling daughter. _

_ Love, _

_ Mom and Dad _

Violet swallowed as she read the letter a second time, rereading her mom’s words, giving a weak chuckle at the description of her father’s name for the ‘event’. She closed the letter, folding it carefully and putting it in her pocket, then turned to the chest, looking it over. It was rather large, but otherwise it seemed normal enough to her. Still, with magic being what it was that didn’t mean much. The tents Mr. Weasley had borrowed for the World Cup had looked normal even when setting them up. 

There was no lock, just a simple latch, which Violet flipped open easily enough. She took a deep breath, then opened the lid and leaned in to look. She blinked at how  _ deep _ the thing seemed to be, even more so than the prison cell in Moody’s trunk. But there was a light at the bottom, she could see it. She frowned, leaning in closer, then let out a loud yelp as she suddenly started to fall! She hadn’t been leaning that far forward, it was like the trunk was sucking her in! 

Then, suddenly, she was opening her eyes, lying in a bed, gasping for breath and shaking beneath the bedspread. “What...the fuck?” She yelped, sitting up and looking around. She glanced down. Instead of the Muggle jeans and t-shirt she’d been wearing, she was clad in soft, smooth pajamas (silk she thought, but she’d never owned anything silk so couldn’t be sure), that were a cool silver with a red lining. She frowned and took stock of the room. It wasn’t very big, not much more than her room at the Dursley’s, and she was in a four poster bed not unlike her bed in the Gryffindor Tower. She frowned, noting the wardrobe and the half full and haphazardly organized bookcase full of textbooks, the former next to a vanity that looked not well used but well stocked. 

“...the fuck am I?” She murmured. This wasn’t the Burrow, it wasn’t St. Mungo’s, it wasn’t the Leaky Cauldron, and it wasn’t the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. That was pretty much every place she could think of that someone would take her after an accident at Gringotts so where…

She let out another yelp as a flood of images and thoughts and information rushed into her brain all at once. The flood continued for...a good while longer than she’d have liked, honestly, but finally it faded, leaving Violet to shake some more as she processed what now felt like a very overfull brain. She didn’t think she’d forgotten anything, but there was suddenly a second set of memories, pushing and budging for space in her mind. 

As clearly as she remembered living with the Dursleys, she remembered living in the Potter Mansion. As clearly as she remembered having to deal with Dudley she remembered helping her little brother Ja...James, with her parents Lord Fleamont Potter and Lady Euphemia Potter. As clearly as she remembered rejecting Slytherin at her Sorting she remembered the Hat chuckling and telling her she’d get the joke later before putting her in Slytherin, and the shock at being the first Potter to go to that House in decades. 

Now she...she was Ravenna Violet Potter, heir to the House of Potter, Sixth Year Slytherin student, as much as she was Violet Ravenna Potter, the Girl Who Lived, Sixth Year Gryffindor student. And as surely as she knew that, she knew the date. Saturday, September 2nd, 1967. She groaned and collapsed back onto the bed. “Why me?” She murmured weakly, staring up at the canvas top of the four poster. 

At least the trunk, and it had to have been the trunk, had sent her back on a weekend. She wasn’t up for classes, she’d likely throw baby Lucius Malfoy off a tower if she had to try and learn shit right now while dealing with this. 

_ That _ thought made her stop and think. She was in Slytherin, while Voldemort was still recruiting for his first war. Oh dear hell that was complicated. She thought about it for a long moment, sorting through her new memories. Strangely enough, everyone seemed to be...fairly neutral? Ravenna didn’t seem to have any rivals, let alone enemies, but she also didn’t seem to have any friends. Even the Professors seemed to take a neutral stance on her. Only her family had a definite, firmly positive bent towards her. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but she pushed it aside. At least she wouldn’t have to fake any strong feelings towards anybody. The hardest part would not being calling her dad, well, Dad, or Lupin Professor. And resisting the urge to throw baby Peter off a tower. 

She slowly clambered out of bed, thinking things over. She...she might have a chance here. The majority of people who’d wind up being Death Eaters weren’t just here with her, they were  _ children _ . Growing, learning, changing, children. For all that they had prejudices and issues, nobody was actually a Death Eater yet. Some bullies, sure, but no murderers, no torturers, just...children. Maybe...just maybe...she could help some of them be better? It was a long shot, she wasn’t a therapist or an orator, she was a student like them still. But there was a chance, and it seemed to her like it was a better route to go then treating her house mates with distrust and dismay. 

Then there was a knock on the door. “Potter, you up? Breakfast!” A feminine voice called from the other side. Violet blinked. Right, other people.

“Just woke up!” She called back. “Be right out!” She began slipping out of her pajamas, kicking them into a corner as she walked towards the wardrobe. She caught sight of her reflection and paused to consider it. There were some changes. She wasn’t wearing her glasses, something that she supposed should have been obvious but hadn’t occurred to her until just now. Her breasts and hips seemed bigger than before, perhaps a result of a more consistently good diet. And...no scar on her forehead. She stared at the unblemished spot, then at the back of her hand and then her arm. The marks of Umbridge and the Basilisk were gone too. 

She shook her head, shoving the mixed feelings about...pretty much all of that down for later, and got dressed, still a little weirded out by the silver and green trim to her robes and of her tie, then hurried to the door, hopping a little as she pulled her trainers on. She opened the door, and blinked at the sight of the other girl waiting for her. She was younger, not as worn, and maybe a bit happier seeming, but there was no mistaking that mane of black curls, or her purple eyes. Bellatrix Lestrange...no, Bellatrix Black was her ‘wake up call’. 

Three thoughts immediately ran across Violet’s mind. The first was that there might not be anyone better to try and sway away from Voldemort than this young woman. The second was the panicked realization that the young, pre-Azkaban Bellatrix was  _ gorgeous _ . And the third was that she’d like to be Bellatrix’s friend if she could, fueled by the first two realizations in equal measure. 

No sooner had the third thought crossed her mind than did a new wave of memories hit her poor, befuddled brain. The formerly present, purely neutral interactions with Bellatrix vanished, and instead she remembered sitting with the girl on the Hogwarts Express at age 11, remembered Bellatrix grinning when she sat down next to the other girl after being Sorted, and then another four years of friendship after that. Classes, Hogsmeade trips, studying for O.W.L.s together and more.

With a jolt, Violet realized that the trunk hadn’t given her neutral standing with everybody, it had given her a chance to decide what her relationships were like. Rather than putting her through what Ravenna had done, or what she would have done in this time, it was letting her make the most of her knowledge and goals. What the fuck kind of gods of magic had Ignotus Peverell and his brothers been?

She pushed those thoughts down too, and focused on Bellatrix. Fortunately everything going on in her head seemed to have happened very fast on the outside world. “Potter?” She asked simply, raising an eyebrow playfully in an effort to test if the new memories were real to this strange new reality. “After all this time?” Bellatrix smirked.

“Felt like it, not sorry. Tomorrow I’ll purr your name through the keyhole,  _ Ravenna _ .” Bellatrix drew Violet’s middle/first name out with a wicked look in her eyes, and Violet entirely failed to suppress a shiver, something that the suddenly triumphant look in Bellatrix’s eyes made clear. 

“I don’t know if I’d go that far.” She said, clearing her throat awkwardly as she stepped into the hallway. Much to her dismay, Bellatrix didn’t step back, staying firmly in Violet’s personal space as she closed the door. It did help clarify that Bellatrix was, in fact, tiny though. She’d seemed so big in the Ministry, but Violet would guess she was actually 18 centimeters taller than the other girl. “I’d settle for you calling me Violet.” Bellatrix wrinkled her nose cutely.

“Violet’s a simple name, doesn’t suit you.” She said firmly, then turned around and walked away. Violet blinked and huffed, following Bellatrix into the common room, glad that her wave of memories included knowledge of how the Slytherin Dungeon was laid out. 

“It’s  _ my _ name, excuse you.” She protested. Part of her was screaming to be less nice to the girl, less friendly, to remember Neville. Another part of her was reminding the first that none of that had happened yet. And a third was the part that was firmly stuck in the questionably real memories of her friendship with Bellatrix.

“Your middle name, nobody cares about that.” Bellatrix replied dismissively. 

“I like it.” 

“That’s because you’re silly, and befriending me is the only time you’ve ever shown any taste.” Bellatrix retorted, though there was a smirk on her face that made Violet’s knees weak. “Now c’mon, before everyone else eats all of breakfast.” She stepped through the portrait hole, and Violet shook her head before following. This...was going to be an experience. 


	2. Chapter 2

Violet reached into her robe pocket to find her wand as she followed behind Bella, glad for once of the large, billowing robes every student had to wear. She’d adjusted, gradually, over the years, but still, sometimes she missed not having them. Right now though, she wasn’t sure she could trust herself not to ogle Bellatrix’s ass. She didn’t have any memories of it, but she was rather certain it was lovely, just based on the rest of the girl. Robes helped mitigate that. 

She wasn’t sure why Bellatrix was having this effect on her. She’d always been able to handle being around pretty girls before. Even Fleur, with her moderate Veela allure, hadn’t shaken her. Maybe it was just a matter of aesthetic. Nobody she knew quite looked like Bellatrix after all. 

She shook her head and pulled out her wand. Sadly it was not her holly and phoenix feather wand, and she felt a pang of sadness. She supposed it made sense, it was hardly likely that Fawkes had donated his second feather the same year as the one in Voldemort’s, with the other wand just sitting there for fifty years or so. Possible, but not likely she didn’t think.

No, instead she found a wand made of a rather reddish wood, probably 3 centimeters longer than her old one. The memory of a visit to Ollivander’s struck her abruptly. Cherry wood with a dragon heartstring core, 31 centimeters. She made a small hum and put the wand back in her robe pocket. The extra length would take some getting used to she rather thought, but it felt  _ right _ to be holding it all the same. She chose to take that as a good sign, and was rather happy when she finally sat down across the table from Bellatrix as a result.

“So, what shall we do today?” Bellatrix asked brightly, dishing herself some potatoes. Violet shrugged, grabbing some bacon as she tried to remember if ‘Ravenna’ had had any plans. As it turned out, she had.

“Well, provided his House mates haven’t managed to poison him entirely against Slytherins in the last twelve or so hours I’m supposed to take James on a tour of the castle, point him in the general direction of things.” She said. Bellatrix wrinkled her nose. 

“Better you than me.”

“You took Andromeda  _ and  _ Narcissa on tours.” Violet pointed out. She blinked. Tonks’ mom was two years younger than her at the moment. Weird. All of this was weird of course, but being older than the mother of a girl who was older than her by seven years (and whom she’d had a crush on, but unless she made it back to her time that was irrelevant) was somehow a bit weirder than just being older than her parents. Her brain was strange that way.

“My sisters are several times better behaved than your brother. And they’re not  _ Gryffindors _ .” Bellatrix said, shuddering dramatically with the last word and getting a chuckle and a head shake from Violet.

“Well, regardless, after that I was wondering if maybe you’d like to duel?” Bellatrix perked up, then frowned.

“You always say no when I ask, what changed?” Violet shrugged. 

“Father made some comments about how I might want to brush up a bit on things beyond just DADA lessons.” She said. “And by some I mean a lot.” It wasn’t even a lie, though Violet didn’t know if they were the result of the trunk’s magic changing things again to provide her with an excuse or if they were ‘natural’. It was entirely possible that her grandfather (father now) was just a perceptive man who noticed the state of the world and was worried about his daughter and heir. “And you’re probably the best duelist who’s not on staff.” 

“What do you mean probably?” Bellatrix huffed indignantly.

“Well, I hear some scary things about the Hufflepuff…” Violet began, but had to dodge a roll before she could finish the sentence. 

“Oh, I’m going to make you hurt for that you little bint.” Bellatrix growled. “And I know just the place for it! Meet me back in the Common Room once you’re done giving the brat a tour.” Violet blinked, then nodded. 

“Alright, fair enough.” She chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. 

“Try to suggest a Hufflepuff might be better than me at something again and I’ll put a body bind curse on you and let Narcissa have a go at trying to tame the Potter hair.” Bellatrix said firmly, which made Violet promptly pull her hand away. Her hair had remained more or less the same in a stubbornly messy bob, which was nice at least. 

“Duly noted.” She said, nodding. “A little unnecessarily mean, to both Hufflepuffs and me, but noted.”

“One day one of us is going to pin you down and get that hair taken care of.” Bellatrix warned. “Probably Narcissa, but annoy me enough and I might get there myself.”

“So you’ve been threatening for...a while.” Violet chuckled, taking a bite of some mushrooms. 

Breakfast went on for a few more minutes like that, with Bellatrix occasionally muttering about Hufflepuffs under her breath, but they split after that, Bellatrix headed one way while Violet wandered off to the Gryffindor table, soon finding her father...little brother now, wolfing down food with baby Sirius. She felt a pang, seeing them happy and healthy and young like this, then wandered over, stealing some bacon off of her...brother’s plate.

“Hey!” He snapped, before looking up and grinning. “Raven!” Violet felt like her eye was going to twitch if people kept using that particular name as how to address her, but that seemed to be locked in rather stubbornly, at least for her family and Bellatrix. Maybe she could sway Sirius? Not that she disliked ‘Ravenna’, it was just a bit too...pureblood for her tastes. 

“Hey hey James.” She said, ruffling his hair and stealing a second piece of bacon. “Huh, your guys’ bacon is better, must be because Dumbledore likes you.” She said playfully. 

“Stop stealing my bacon!” James protested, while Sirius looked on in bemusement that had a depressing air of longing to it. Was he not allowed to tease Regulus? Her memories rather regularly depicted Bellatrix being playful and kind to her little sisters (albeit mainly in private unless she was going for teasing), and she was fairly certain that wasn’t solely her influence. 

“Fine.” She told James, shrugging and snagging his goblet of orange juice, chugging it.

“Hey!”

“You only said to not steal bacon. Now c’mon, I said I’d give you a tour and the longer it takes the longer I’ll be making Bellatrix wait which...not a good plan.” James rolled his eyes as she put the goblet back down but nodded.

“Can Sirius come?” He asked, glancing at his new friend. Violet shrugged. 

“Sure, why not?” She couldn’t think of a good reason not to let him come, and maybe she could help tamp down on the bullying. Not that bullying excused everything of course, but less of it could only help in making Snape less of a prick. 

“Are you friends with my cousin Bellatrix?” Sirius asked curiously, speaking up finally. Violet nodded.

“Yeah, she’s my best friend, we shared a compartment on the train together our first year and just sort of stayed close. I’m Violet, nice to meet you.” To her surprise Sirius shook his head.

“Nuh-uh, Bellatrix wrote me a guide list for Hogwarts and one of the first things she said was that her best friend was named Ravenna but kept trying to get people to call her by her silly middle name and that if I encouraged you she’d let Narcissa redesign my wardrobe.” Violet definitely felt her eye twitch at that.

“Well, you’re in Gryffindor, so it’s not like she can get at your clothes.” She pointed out.

“Bellatrix would find a way.” Sirius said bluntly, and Violet sighed. 

“Yeah, probably. Alright, this way firsties.” She said, waving a hand as she headed for the exit, muttering under her breath about meddling goths and pretentious purebloods the whole time. 

The tour of the castle itself was fairly uneventful, though she did her best to be comprehensive. They started in the dungeons, though she avoided the Slytherin dormitory in favor of Slughorn’s classroom and the kitchens. The latter was mainly just to keep them from asking about the Slytherin dorms, but still. No need to be showing the pranksters in the making exactly where the House they already had some issues with slept. 

From there the tour took a bit longer, but she was able to show them a couple of passageways that helped bypass the stairs. Some she knew from the map they’d eventually make, others Bellatrix had shown her...or shown Ravenna rather...technically. That was confusing her still, but she tried to push past it. She showed them each of the required classes, and the fastest ways to get to each, as well as which staircases were most fond of popping out trick steps and which floors were most likely to conjure up fake doors. 

“Thanks Raven.” James said finally when she deposited them back at the Gryffindor dormitory. She chuckled and ruffled his hair. 

“Any time dwarf.” She said brightly. “You ask me anytime you need something, okay? Different Houses doesn’t mean we’re not siblings anymore. And Sirius, you can ask too, okay? Never hurts to ask for help, and even if we’re not family you’re James’ friend and my best friend’s family, so that’s like...cousins or something.” Sirius looked at her a little strangely. She knew she wasn’t exactly behaving like the proper heir of one of the richest and oldest pureblood families ought to, but she didn’t exactly care. She wondered if she was making him rethink what being an heir meant for  _ him _ , or if he was just thinking she was weird and wondering what her parents were like.

“I don’t think that’s how that works, but thanks.” He said finally, giving a small grin. Violet grinned back and waved before heading back down. In the scheme of things keeping the two biggest rival Houses in Hogwarts literally as far away from each other as possible was probably for the best, but damn if it didn’t make things annoying. 

As she headed down to the dungeon, she ran through ‘Ravenna’s’ memories, looking to see if there were any spells she’d learned that she didn’t already know. To her slight surprise there didn’t seem to be. She paused, realizing that much as she kind of had bland relationships with most people, she had kind of bland school performance. She raised her eyebrow, wondering, then decided that she was really good at Potions. A moment later she rocked on her heels, as everything changed. It was like she had a...a photographic memory, at least when it came to potions class and texts. She hesitated, then decided that she was really good at Defense still and also Charms. The same thing, only more so. Though she noticed dimly that there were still no  _ new _ spells. Just a better grasp at learning them and a better handle on how. 

She pursed her lips, then decided to leave it at that. She wasn’t terrible at any subject, and truth be told she didn’t particularly feel like she was cut out for Hermione’s level of brilliance. Settling for three O’s and some E’s and A’s was enough. Taking Ancient Runes instead of Divination was going to be interesting though. 

The lack of any new spells was puzzling to her, until she figured out what was going on. Learning new magic wasn’t purely mental. Otherwise Hermione would have graduated by third year probably. There was more to it than just knowing the proper incantation and the proper way to wave the wand, otherwise more students would excel. It was part instinct, and part knowing how to properly shape your magic and use it to achieve the desired result. That wasn’t something she could just remember without experience, not really.

Though now that she thought about it, there  _ was _ one brand of magic that was all mental. She closed her eyes, bracing herself, and decided that Ravenna had been taught Occlumency. A moment later the knowledge hit her, and she was struck by how  _ easy _ it seemed, recalling Fleamont’s lessons (she’d have to get used to thinking of him as Father, lest she stumble into the opposite potential problem she had with James) and how clearly he’d laid it out. Then again, she could concede that she had been a rather shitty student for Snape. He hadn’t made things easier, and she wasn’t sure she’d do things differently if she got to do fifth year over, but she could admit there’d been fault on her end too. 

She shook her head, wondering if Ravenna was smarter than her or just better at applying herself, and entered the Slytherin common room. 

“Finally!” Bellatrix huffed, hauling herself out of her chair. “I was wondering if you’d decided to show them the bottom of the Lake and the Forest too.” Violet chuckled.

“Patience is a virtue.” She said playfully, chuckling as Bellatrix responded to this by cuffing her shoulder. “So, where are we going, outside?” 

“Nope, seventh floor.” Bellatrix said brightly, heading for the exit. Violet spluttered, then groaned. 

“I was just at Gryffindor tower!” She protested. “Why’d I have to come back down here if we were going back to the penultimate floor?”

“Because you made me wait so you could show your brother around.” Bellatrix called back smugly. “Now hurry up, before I levitate you there.” Violet groaned again, following her friend. 

She was so busy being grumpy and exasperated about marching back up the castle  _ again _ that it didn’t occur to her where they were going until they stopped in front of a blank wall and Bellatrix started walking back and forth. She blinked. Obviously she wasn’t the first student to make more than accidental use of the Room of Requirement, but she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t expected that she’d have to be the one to introduce it to others. 

“What’s this?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and doing her best to look surprised when a door appeared. 

“This is...well I don’t know what to call it. This used to be my pacing hallway, since there’s no classes or anything up here. It was where I’d go when I needed to work off steam. Then one day this door appeared and I’ve been using it ever since.” Bellatrix opened the door and it revealed a wide, long, marble hall, with a marked off dueling arena in the center.

“Rules?” Violet asked as she closed the door behind her, noticing it vanish. Bellatrix must have made a point of not wanting to be interrupted. She wished she’d thought of that back with the DA.

“Nothing lethal, no unforgivables, try not to go for the hair or the clothes.” Bellatrix said calmly, stepping into one end of the arena. Violet nodded, moving to the other end.

“Fair enough. Count of Three?”

“Nope!” Violet’s eyes widened as the other girl snapped out her wand, casting a spell without speaking, and barely got a shield charm up in time to block the blast of red light. 

“Expelliarmus!” Violet snapped, lashing out. To her dismay Bellatrix managed to block it with a wordless shield charm. Dammit, they hadn’t started learning those yet, how did Bellatrix already know silent casting?

The duel went on like that for some time. Neither girl managed to score a solid hit on the other, but Violet was the only one speaking, and wound up having to repeat spells more than once, though she tried to change up her tactics and where she aimed as much as possible. 

“Okay, no, stop.” Bellatrix said finally, putting a shield between them and looking frustrated.

“What?” Violet protested. “I can’t be  _ that _ bad.” 

“Why are you casting verbally?” Violet blinked. 

“Because we haven’t learned that yet?” She said, as if it should be obvious. Bellatrix blinked at her, frowning. 

“And the fact that you’re only using the standard DADA spells?” 

“...what else would I be using? Hair growing charms?” Bellatrix stared at her for a long moment. 

“Violet, are you trying to tell me that you’re not learning any new spells over the summer?” She demanded finally, with an almost Hermione-like expression on her face. She thought this was a bit unfair though. This wasn’t her putting off homework or practice, this was her not breaking the law.

“Well, yeah...it’s illegal to use magic outside of school, isn’t it?” She asked. Bellatrix gave her a long look. “I learned Occlumency this summer!” Bellatrix kept looking at her. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing. Okay let’s...this is now spell lessons, until I figure out what the fuck to do about your parents.” 

“W...why would you have to do anything about my parents?” 

“Don’t worry about it. Now, this is a floor softening charm, great for tripping up your opponents and buying you some time. It’s the least dangerous, and you favor quick finishing spells besides, so we’ll start with that to expand your repertoire.” Violet blinked, but quickly nodded, watching Bellatrix demonstrate the proper wand movements. She had no idea what was going on, but she wasn’t going to pass up on a new spell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there everybody! Thank y'all for reading this chapter! 
> 
> So, right off the bat, main thing to address is Violet/Ravenna's knowledge altering skill. Again, not as broken as it first might seem. Not only can she not actually learn new spells this way, she can only learn what a reasonably bright sixth year would know. She's not gonna be able to learn magic that Dumbledore or Voldemort don't have or anything. And of course there's the subconscious handicap that, like Harry, Violet/Ravenna isn't particularly ambitious and content with mostly getting by.
> 
> Also, quick reminder, Violet fell into the past and into Ravenna early in the sixth book. She knows very little about Snape's backstory or trauma, and nothing about his...fixation on Lily. So don't @ me about that, lol
> 
> Anyway, thank you once again for reading! Please feel free to leave comments if you have any questions/concerns/reviews, etc!


	3. Chapter 3

Bellatrix walked Ravenna through the steps of the floor softening charm. It was a rather useful spell that fortunately fell into the area of not being taught at Hogwarts but also not being a Black Family Spell, and thus was something she could teach her best friend. And quite fortunately, Ravenna was rather excellent at Charms, so it worked out quite nicely. 

She was rather distracted though, because she didn’t know how the fuck to process the most recent revelation. Truth be told she’d always thought that Ravenna was rather wasted at Hogwarts. The school wasn’t nearly martial enough to make use of the fact that the girl was a god damn prodigy when it came to DADA, and Slughorn’s ambitions limited just how far Ravenna could take her talent when the man was more interested in cultivating her political future than her potions making one. Though at least Slughorn was trying to teach her about politics, since it wasn’t like Hogwarts offered any sort of civics class.

But she’d comforted herself by figuring that, like her, Ravenna was learning Family Spells. The Potters were an  _ old _ House, with a very martial history that had only recently switched to commerce. Their magic would probably have been a good deal Lighter than the House of Black’s but not impractical, and honestly that Lightness would have suited her soft-hearted friend well.

So to learn that Lord and Lady Potter had been prioritizing the letter of the law over Ravenna’s education was...distressing, to say the least. The basics of the Trace were well known, and the fact that the magic of the Potter parents (and probably the magic built into their estate, given how old it was) would interfere with the Trace too much and thus make the laws against Underage Magic unimportant for them should have been clear. It was clear to her parents she knew, and most of their House mates. Bellatrix could safely say that at least half the spells she knew had been taught to her by her parents during the summers after the completion of her first year. She’d just always assumed Ravenna was the same.

This would not do. Bellatrix had  _ plans _ for Ravenna. Some concrete, some tentative, others entirely half-baked, but all her non-sexual plans relied on the Potter heir being able to live up to her full potential. Yes Ravenna was skilled but Hogwarts by itself wasn’t going to produce the  _ amazing _ witch she knew her friend could be. Which meant that Bellatrix was going to have to do the extra work to cram more magic into Ravenna. 

“Everything okay Bellatrix? You’re scowling.” Ravenna said, cocking her head to the side. She was breathing a little heavily, and Bellatrix took a moment to admire the resulting effect it had on Ravenna’s breasts. Her friend had the best rack in school, and Bellatrix felt no problem in admiring it. Particularly not given how Ravenna blushed whenever she caught Bellatrix doing so.

“I’m fine, just trying to figure out what else to teach you.” She said, waving off the concern. She had a good repertoire of skills, but a fair chunk of them were Black Family Spells, or budged up against that classification enough to make her wary of teaching them. And another handful of them were fully Dark, and not something she wanted to see Ravenna using. That left a decent number of spells, but not enough to make up for what Ravenna wasn’t learning at home. She bit her lip, then brightened as something occurred to her. “What do you know about Elemental Affinities?” She asked. Ravenna blinked.

“Never heard of them.” Bellatrix fought back a growl. That shouldn’t be surprising, but she wasn’t happy to hear it. Yes they weren’t dealt with in Hogwarts because they were purely martial, yes full Masters of Elemental Magic were rare, yes the fact that they were purely combat driven meant many considered the whole branch Dark, but she didn’t know any other pureblood who didn’t know at least their own affinity and  _ some _ spells associated with them. But getting upset at Ravenna wasn’t going to do any good.

“Right. Well...I’ve never had to teach them before, so I’m going to have to cut this lesson short to do some research.” She said finally. “But either tomorrow or next weekend we’ll get you started.” This might be perfect in fact. Yes, Elemental magic was less versatile than more general schools of magic, but it was powerful and rare, falling only out of favor because it was viewed as a relic of a less civilized time. If she could get Ravenna decently skilled in whatever her Affinity wound up being by December, then her friend would be a uniquely intriguing and valuable prospect for the Dark Lady. Obviously the older woman wasn’t in a position to turn down recruits with skill, but the more powerful and skilled Ravenna was, the better she’d be.

Admittedly she hadn’t brought up the topic of the Dark Lady to Ravenna, but she was sure everything would be fine. Yes, Ravenna was from a traditionally very Light family, and yes, Ravenna was so fiercely anti-Blood politics that Bellatrix had stopped using the term Mudblood just to stop seeing the disappointment and sadness in Violet’s eyes, but it wasn’t like the Dark Lady was calling for extermination. Just for a better cementing of pureblood power and to bring about an age where witches and wizards no longer had to hide in the shadows from Muggles. Yes they could pass for Muggles but  _ they shouldn’t have to _ . Surely Ravenna could see that. She...just didn’t want to be the one to try and make the pitch to her herself. She didn’t really want to think too hard about that reluctance though.

Ravenna made everything complicated. And she didn’t know how to feel about that. 

“You don’t have to…” Ravenna began, but Bellatrix wasn’t having any of it.

“Maybe not, but I want to.” Truth be told she was rather certain that she  _ did _ have to, for Ravenna’s sake, but that wasn’t what her best friend would want to hear, so she kept that to herself. “Now then.” She closed her eyes, and suddenly the room they were in shrunk, and a door in one wall appeared. “I just made you a rather lovely bathroom, so you go clean yourself up and rest, and I’ll be heading back down to do some research, okay?” Truth be told she was pretty sure she could get the book she needed to appear in this room, but she wasn’t certain she’d be able to resist at least trying to get a look at Ravenna if the other girl was wet and naked, and that wouldn’t go well. 

“Well...if you’re sure…” Ravenna said finally, frowning a little but seemingly deciding not to push much harder.

“When am I ever not sure?” That got a chuckle.

“Fair enough.” Bellatrix beamed. 

“The door leading back into the castle’s going to stay, but you’ll only be able to see it from this side. Nobody’s going to walk in on you, don’t worry.” Bellatrix was pretty sure she’d kill anybody that walked in on Ravenna in the tub that wasn’t her. It wouldn’t even necessarily be a conscious decision, just a fact of nature. She grinned and then hurried out, heading for the Slytherin dormitory. She had an hour and a half before lunch. That wasn’t enough to get a good grip on teaching Ravenna Elemental magic of course, but it was enough to get a head start on things. 

She entered the Common Room to see her least favorite House mate sitting nearby, next to the admittedly less obnoxious Lucius Malfoy. “Rodolphus, if you say a word I will put you on the other side of that glass.” She said flatly when the boy grinned and opened his mouth, pointing at the enchanted window that gave them a view of the lake. “I’m not in the mood right now.”

“What did Potter do this time?” Lucius drawled as a rather put out looking Lestrange snapped his mouth shut.

“Ravenna, nothing. The Lord and Lady Potter on the other hand appear to be law abiding.” She said dryly. “As in, the letter of the law.” Lucius winced. To a Slytherin, there was nothing quite as terrible as having avenues for power and advancement cut off because someone with power over you was too stubborn to work out loopholes. He didn’t even need to know the details, the idea of having parents who stuck to the letter of the law was bad enough.

“She has my condolences, and you have my best wishes in whatever you intend to do to rectify the situation.” Bellatrix nodded and gave a half sarcastic, half sincere curtsy before heading off to her room. Supposedly the Gryffindors had communal dorms, multiple students in a single room, to help foster camaraderie or some such. She thought that was a bit much, Slytherin wasn’t a den of backstabbing and sabotage after all, and was rather glad that the Slytherin dormitory took advantage of the space being underground provided.

She entered her room and looked over her bookshelf. It was rather more full, and more organized, than Ravenna’s and she soon found the book she was looking for.  _ Understanding and Approaching the Elemental Arts _ by Asarra Bryke. She grabbed it, sat on her bed, and started reading. 

Then, a couple pages in, the door opened and she had to resist the urge to snap as she looked up. Seeing Andromeda made things a bit better though. “What’s up Andy?” She asked, giving her middle sister a smile. Andromeda just shrugged.

“Bored, thought I’d see what you were up to.” The other girl said flatly. She tilted her head to the side, reading the title. “Didn’t realize you were planning on getting more into Elemental magic.” She said curiously. 

“I’m not, not really. This is for Ravenna.” Andromeda chuckled. 

“Of course it is.” She said dryly. “Why does she need you to read it for her?” 

“Because I’m going to be helping her figure out her Elemental Affinity.” Bellatrix said, not looking up from the book. That made Andromeda blink.

“She doesn’t know it?” Bellatrix growled and lowered her book.

“She doesn’t know any of the god damn Potter Family Spells either.” She snapped. She couldn’t get too upset in front of Ravenna, since it wasn’t her fault and in general she didn’t like upsetting her best friend. She couldn’t get too upset in front of Lucius because the details weren’t hers to give out and she wasn’t close to him besides. Andromeda could be trusted though, and she’d warded her room herself besides. Andromeda’s eyes widened. “Lord and Lady Potter have decided to follow the exact letter of the law when it comes to underage magic it seems.”

“But...but she’s their heir.” Andromeda pointed out. “And it’s not like there’s going to be any Muggles to see her, not with the size of their property.” 

“I  _ know _ .” Bellatrix snapped before sighing. “Anyway, obviously that status quo can’t be allowed to stand. But I don’t know enough good spells that aren’t Black Family Spells or Dark to make up for it. On the other hand, if I can get her started down the Elemental path…”

“That’d give her something powerful and unusual, especially if her Affinity isn’t something bog-standard and boring like Fire.” Bellatrix, whose Affinity  _ was _ Fire, stuck her tongue out at that. “And so it’d be harder for anyone trying to hurt her to counter.” Andromeda finished, nodding. 

“Among other things, yeah.” Bellatrix agreed.

“Well, that seems fair and important, so I’ll leave you to it.” Andromeda said. “Oh, before I go, Narcissa asked me to ask you to stop using her love of fashion as a weapon to threaten people with.” 

“No.” 

“Fair enough.”

Meanwhile, up in the Room of Requirement, Violet was lounging in the bath, staring up at the ceiling as she mulled over recent events. She hadn’t really had time to just sit and think about what was going on. First she’d been panicking, then she’d been following Bellatrix to breakfast, then she’d been giving James and Sirius a tour, and then she’d been dueling (and learning from, wasn’t that strange) with Bellatrix. Even when walking back to the Slytherin dorms she’d been more focused on the future than the present. Now though, in a magically heated bath with no rush to get anywhere until lunch, she could just sit and think about what had just happened.

Four hours ago she’d been thrown through time and space, from Gringotts in mid-summer to Hogwarts in early fall, nearly thirty years in the past from where she’d started, give or take a year, she wasn’t in the mood for math at the moment. And it had all happened because of an absurdly complex and magical trunk made by her ancestors. Which was...just super. Suddenly she wished for some booze and a cigar. She’d never had either, but it felt like the time for them. Both items appeared besides her, and she chuckled. She’d forgotten she wasn’t in a normal bathroom. She made them disappear again. It was too early for alcohol, that was something she’d heard on TV somewhere, she was pretty sure. Plus she didn’t know her tolerance, and she didn’t want to get drunk. Then she paused, and decided her mother had slipped her a bottle of something sweet and relatively mild with a wink and a comment to use it for ‘special occasions’. 

It worked, and since she’d entirely failed to do more than the most basic of nudges to her family’s attitudes (her attempt to get her father to at least reference any practical spell training during the summer or winter holidays had been met with a brick wall, so she guessed she could only do so much to alter her past) she guessed that meant her (grand)mother was a bit more lighthearted then one might expect of a proper Lady. She let out a hum, then pushed it aside for the moment. She’d drink to lost friends alone that night.

Because she had lost them, she was fairly certain. There’d been no Ravenna Violet Potter before, she knew. She hadn’t just swapped minds or possessed the poor girl. For all the differences wrought by their very different upbringings, Ravenna  _ was _ her. And while it was possible that the trunk would suck her back up, and spit her back out where she’d entered, she rather doubted it. The thing seemed too powerful to be anything more or less than an absolute last ditch effort. 

If she were to guess, the thing had done...something to scan her mind, similar to the Mirror or Erised but more in depth and focused on facts rather than desires, and then found the time and place she could do the most good for the Potter family. Personally she’d have gone with back when Voldemort was a kid, to either try and steer her like she hoped to do with Bellatrix and others or kill her, but who was she to question a magical trunk made by what she still had trouble thinking of as anything less than gods of magic.

So Ron, Hermione, Neville, Hermione, the Twins, Lupin, Tonks, her Dumbledore...gone, all of them. Every friend, mentor, and person she cared about, lost. Some might be alive right now, others might be born in the near future, but she wouldn’t have the same relationship with any of them ever again. Hell, with her mucking up the timeline who knew how many of them would even be born? That was a...distressing thought. 

So she shoved it aside. She couldn’t worry about that sort of thing right now. What’s done was done, and it wasn’t even her fault. Not technically. She hadn’t done anything on purpose. She’d been told to open the trunk by her parents, so she’d opened the trunk. That was it. She bit her lip, stood up, nodding. She was, once more, in an incredibly shitty position only tangentially of her own making. And all she could do was try to make the best of it. That meant starting with the Black sisters (mainly Bellatrix, since Andromeda was probably fine and Narcissa was young), and working her way through the other Slytherins. She just had to figure out what in the fuck she was going to offer them that Voldemort wouldn’t or couldn’t. She couldn’t just empathy them into not going down that road after all.

She groaned as she climbed out of the tub. “Fucking trunk.” She needed to figure this out though. Okay, what did she know about the Wizarding political system? ...distressingly little, now that she thought about it.  _ But _ , Ravenna did know how it worked. And it was...Violet didn’t know how else to phrase it but “Hmm.”

The Minister of Magic was elected by popular vote. There were no term limits, but an election had to be held every seven years. It could, however, happen sooner, in the case of enough public outcry and a successful referendum. The Minister then appointed Department Heads in the Ministry as needed, occasionally reshuffling them but mostly leaving their predecessor’s picks in place unless it had been an unusually fierce campaign. 

The Wizengamot was the legislature, and the judicial system. Only a portion of the members of the body were involved in the courtroom proceedings however. The Wizarding World was a bit blood obsessed, but they still required at least  _ some _ legal training before you could judge crimes. Two thirds of the Wizengamot were Purebloods, with seats passed down through the family, while the other third were elected and based upon geography, giving Half-Bloods and Muggleborns some semblance of say in the legislature. Whenever a Pureblood family died out, their seat was replaced by an elected one. Which...did explain where the panic was coming from, though it didn’t really impress Violet overly much. Yes there weren’t a lot of Purebloods left, but  _ still _ , a war because possibly in the future they might lose their stranglehold?

But this left her with a problem. She couldn’t offer them money. The Potters were one of the richest families in Britain, but not so much richer she could pay them all into peace. She didn’t have significant political power to offer them. What then? They had more than they could ever need but fear and greed was making them panicky and scared. Any change to appease them would be just as liable to start a war from the other end. And she was here to stop  _ any _ war from breaking out, not just the Death Eaters. Where was the opening?

“...Oh.” She murmured as it hit her. There was one thing that the Purebloods didn’t consistently have. The Head of State. As often as the Minister was someone weak and pliable like Fudge it was someone stronger, more stubborn, and occasionally even progressive and idealistic. Rigging the elections was not only tricky given magic, but liable to backfire and cause a revolution. But what if...instead of a Minister...there was a King or Queen.

She nibbled her lip, pacing and thinking it over. There had never been any British Wizarding royalty she knew. The Ministry of Magic was a direct expansion from the Wizard’s Council. And this was  _ Britain _ besides. There would be limited historical counterpoints to draw from for the average wizard. It wouldn’t be  _ easy, she  _ knew. But at the same time, she wasn’t sure what other options there were.

A Pureblood monarch. One from an old and noble family. But one with a moderate enough history to not cause too much distrust from the Half-Bloods and Muggleborn. Pureblood didn’t mean evil after all. The Weasleys, the Diggorys, her family, the Longbottoms, there  _ were _ good families there. And hell, Sirius proved a Dark family could produce a decent person. Succession tied to the bloodline, to make it harder for a Malfoy or Lestrange to take over. 

Of course, there’d be the problem of making sure the monarch knew the threats, and realized how close they’d come to  _ two _ disastrous wars in as many generations (admittedly, she’d been punted into the past before the second war had gotten in full swing, but people were already dying and she doubted it’d have been much better than the first). It might be for the best if...well...if they already knew everything. What to watch out for, what the failings of Wizarding society were towards anybody who wasn’t a Pureblood. And if they came from a family  _ famous _ for being Light…

“Nope!” She said suddenly, shaking her head. “No, no, I’m not going to start plotting to make myself Queen of Wizarding Britain. That is...no.” That was a very dangerous road to go down, and she was not risking it. She kept shaking her head as she finished dressing and fled the Room of Requirement. If that’s where her mind went when she was alone with her thoughts these days, she’d be better off in the Great Hall eating lunch. She just hoped Bellatrix was there, she’d probably be able to distract her from her plans of going full Ceaser. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all for reading this! I hope you enjoyed Bellatrix's POV, and don't think I did *too* terrible of a job with her! 
> 
> I draw hardcore from fanon and tropes this chapter, hope y'all don't mind. This fic's my effort to worry less and have fun more, and that means sometimes falling into some fandom staples.
> 
> And yeah, Violet's plan is...probably not the best, but she's a teenager desperate to prevent a war and generally under a lot of stress so she's doing her best. 
> 
> Anyway, that's all I have to say for now, thank you again for reading! Feel free to comment if you have any questions/concerns/reviews, etc!


	4. Chapter 4

Bellatrix came up to the Great Hall to find Ravenna locked in conversation with Atalanta Parkinson, Viola Zabini, and Herman Greengrass of all people, occasionally stopping to sip some pumpkin juice. Andromeda was staring at the conversation in mild concern, which caught her by surprise. Those were the three most popular students who could be categorized as Grey after all, it wasn’t like she was talking to Nott, the Lestranges, and the Carrows. “What’s up?” She asked, fighting down a desire to hex Atalanta when the dark haired girl batted her eyelashes at Ravenna and earned a blush from her best friend.

“Well, the conversation seems fine, Ravenna’s just asking their opinion on politics as more neutral Purebloods.” Andromeda reported. “But when she came in Ravenna sat down and started drinking pumpkin juice like she was trying to get drunk from it, and she tore into some sandwiches like a dog.” Bellatrix blinked. That...sounded like Ravenna when she was deeply upset, but it had been a while since she’d seen  _ that _ particular expression of upset. She glanced over at the Gryffindor table, but James Potter seemed perfectly fine, so it wasn’t a death in the family.

“Huh.” Bellatrix said slowly. “Thanks for keeping an eye on her.”

“You’d kill me if I didn’t.” Andromeda replied cheerily, making Bellatrix snort before carrying on down the table. She plopped down across from Ravenna, grabbing some salad herself as she let the conversation pick back up. Did they expect her  _ not _ to sit near Ravenna at this point? The minute Herman started talking, Bellatrix stretched her leg, bumping Atalanta’s with her foot then, when the girl glanced down in confusion, began to possessively rub said foot up and down Ravenna’s leg. She was treated with two pairs of blushing girls and Viola looked like Christmas had come early. The girl really did thrive on drama she’d noticed. Ah well, message received and that was what mattered. 

“What do you think Bellatrix?” Herman asked finally. She blinked at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Herman, when have I ever listened to a word you’ve said?”

“Never.” He replied brightly with a grin. “You ignoring me whenever we get paired in Arithmancy is the entire reason I passed that class in Fourth Year.” Bellatrix snorted. Well the boy was cheery, she’d give him that. “We were talking about whether or not it was wise for the Ministry to not create a standing army, given that not all of Grindelwald’s army fell with him, and nobody knows when someone like him might pop up again.” Bellatrix blinked slowly, glancing at Ravenna. Well  _ that _ wasn’t something she’d expected to come from her friend, what exactly was going on?

“It’d be dumb to make one.” She said flatly. “Ministers change too often, and those changes can happen at the public whim. You’d need to make a new Department in the Ministry, and separate it from everything else so much it might as well be its own branch of government, or else everyone would be trying to become Minister just for a personal army, and one of them would inevitably get it.” She shrugged. “It’s not a bad idea overall, just can’t work with a government that can change as easily as ours.”

“That was the general consensus.” Viola agreed, nodding. “Before that we were discussing the merits of increasing our relations with the other Wizarding nations, and lessening our isolationist stance.”

“...is this a lunchtime politics club now?” Bellatrix asked, raising an eyebrow. That got a round of chuckles and a blush from Ravenna.

“It wasn’t hard to tell that things got more tense over the summer.” Ravenna said slowly, shrugging. “I thought it might be worth getting opinions on a few topics that have been bugging me. I’ve got my family for Light, you for Dark, thought I’d try and get some Grey feelings.” Bellatrix paused, a sinking pit in her stomach. The main reason behind those tensions was the Dark Lady. If Ravenna felt she had the Light opinions on topics, then the well might have already been poisoned on that front. 

She shoved that worry down. The fact that they hadn’t bothered to teach Ravenna the Family Spells demonstrated to her quite clearly that the Lord and Lady Potter didn’t have her best friend’s interests at heart. And if she could convince Ravenna of that, then she could convince her to hear the Dark Lady out. But she needed to answer the question before people started thinking she was behaving too strangely.

“I can’t think of a good reason  _ not _ to.” She said honestly. “It would take a lot of reforms though. The Department of International Cooperation is a dead end in the Ministry as things stand. Can’t keep that attitude  _ and _ make meaningful connections with other nations.” This received a round of nods. 

“That was the consensus, yeah.” Ravenna said, nodding. She stretched, gently shifting away from Bellatrix’s foot, and stood. “Alright, I have something I need to check on in the library, so I will see you all at dinner.” She said, nodding at everyone and leaving.

“...what on earth did she hear from her parents that has her so worked up?” Viola asked with a frown, watching the Potter heir leave. Bellatrix grumbled and shrugged. 

“Hasn’t said anything to me yet about it.” She admitted. “But she also wasn’t this bothered yesterday or this morning, so something sparked in that brain of hers recently. Just don’t know what.” She let out a hum, and was so focused on the problem of Ravenna’s recent behavior that she entirely failed to notice the spiteful look Rodolphus gave her best friend as she left.

Violet likewise failed to notice the look she’d gotten from the young man who considered her best friend  _ his _ . Her mind was too busy working on her current problems. Well, that and the distressingly positive reaction her body had had to Bellatrix rubbing her foot up and down her leg. The other girl’s negative, possessive reaction to Atalanta’s flirting  _ should _ have been a turn-off she knew, but it very much wasn’t, and she didn’t quite know how to feel about it.

Thinking of Atalanta, it had been interesting talking to Slytherins who  _ weren’t _ Draco or Bellatrix. Not that she’d ever been especially talkative with Draco, but still. It was new. As was the information that the House of Parkinson was matrilineal, with inheritance and the name both going down through the women. Supposedly there hadn’t been a Parkinson son born since Perseus Parkinson in 1709, though the tradition pre-dated that string. That was...interesting to learn to say the least. Herman seemed fairly gregarious and pleasant, more than some Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs she knew. And Viola...well she hadn’t talked a lot, but she’d been polite and decisive when she did talk. 

It was rather weird how few Purebloods seemed to have siblings. She wasn’t sure what was up with that. Mass impotence seemed unlikely, given that most seemed to have at least one kid, but she wasn’t sure what else to attach to it. It couldn’t be the tendency towards Dark magic and incest cause, well...the Blacks seemed perfectly capable of having kids. Still, she wasn’t a scientist, so it really didn’t matter in the end. Something to look into if she became queen maybe.

She stopped and shook her head. No, she was  _ not _ going down that road. Someone else could be monarch. Not her, that was a bit too far a road to go down. Plotting to wreck a democracy to put a monarch in place to try and stop a war was one thing. Plotting to put  _ herself _ on the throne felt like too much. That was something Lucius or Umbridge would do, and she wasn’t there yet. This was about saving people, not putting herself in power. She was still shoving down the intrusive thoughts of power and stability when she entered the library.

“Excuse me? Madam Pince?” She asked as she approached the woman. “I’m looking for any books on the history and makeup of the Ministry?” The librarian blinked at her. 

“Well, I don’t hear that often.” She said with a raised eyebrow. “Good for you Miss Potter.” She gestured with her feather duster. “Eighth bookcase on the farthest right from the door, starting at the fifth shelf from the bottom of the third column and ending at the bottom of said column.” Violet blinked, then nodded.

“Thank you Madam Pince.” She said before hurrying off at the politest speed she could manage. She probably could have gone back up to the Room of Requirement, but Bellatrix hadn’t explained how the room worked to her. It would have raised questions she wasn’t prepared to deal with if she’d gone up there. Besides, this was...probably fine. Dumbledore had taken far less interest in Ravenna Potter than he had in Violet, which meant the best she’d been able to get with him before hitting a brick wall was general geniality that was not...openly tainted by her association with Bellatrix. Time would tell if that was actually the case or if the Headmaster was just being careful.

Of course, she thought wryly, the problem with her plan was that she rather doubted Dumbledore would go along with it. It wasn’t appeasement, she didn’t think. Rather compromise. Put the power in the hands of a Pureblood, ensure that’d more or less stay Pureblood, but also do what she could to ensure that whoever got the crown and the throne was a good person who’d treat the Muggleborn well and pass Mr. Weasley type Muggle protecting laws. Which would be easiest to accomplish if  _ she  _ were the queen but...no, no. That was too risky, too power hungry, too...ambitious.

She shook her head violently and started perusing the books, snagging a couple basic seeming ones and heading off to find a table. The best place to start, she figured, was to read up on exactly how the Ministry got started, what, if any, changes had been made to its structure, and how exactly it functioned today. From there she could work on what needed to be done to get the changes she’d wanted done. And who knew, maybe she’d see something that proved a monarch wasn’t necessary and there was something entirely different that could be done to turn things around without devolving into a brutal war. She could only hope. 

Violet spent the rest of the afternoon pouring over books, trying to find as many answers as she could. She’d forgotten to pack a bag, meaning she couldn’t take notes, but she did the best she could. She wasn’t exactly Hermione, and she never would be, but she wasn’t dumb, and she was desperate. Desperation tended to do good things for her learning, as the Triwizard Tournament had taught her. There was a ticking clock, and she had no idea when it’d go off. To make matters worse she honestly didn’t know when Voldemort would start her war. She hoped it wouldn’t be until after Bellatrix’s seventh year, but for all she knew Bellatrix hadn’t climbed the ranks until the war had already begun in earnest. She really wished Binns had been more interesting  _ and _ had talked about more recent history. Was that a seventh year thing?

Eventually though Bellatrix had appeared with a worried (and confused) look in her eye, and dragged her off to dinner. She’d been mostly silent throughout the meal, only occasionally answering questions from Bellatrix. She knew she was worrying the other girl, but her mind was racing and honestly she wasn’t in a very good mood right now. She was trying to deal with the twin pressures of stopping a war and not collapsing at the fact that she’d lost everything and everyone she cared about. Trying to put up a brave and gregarious front was out of her range at the moment. 

After dinner she’d retreated to the Common Room, where Viola had swiftly pulled her over to the fireplace, poured her a drink of remarkably mild wine (apparently her family had a small vineyard in Italy) and started asking her about the various stances her parents took on things, as well as various Light aligned single boys she’d met. Violet let herself get engrossed in the conversation with the Zabini girl, too tired of being panicked and ready to fire off random tidbits from Ravenna’s memories if it meant not having to think too hard or interact too in depth. Bellatrix had given her a worried look that she’d entirely missed before retreating back to her own room to study the Elemental magic book some more.

She likewise failed to notice the charms Rodolphus put on her drink, though in her defense nobody else noticed either.

Bellatrix let out a growl as there was a knock on her door. She’d been throwing herself into the Elemental magic book, trying to push past her worries about Ravenna’s behavior, all day. It had been an hour since she left her best friend in the Common Room with Zabini. Normally she was loathe to do that sort of thing, but Viola had managed to actually get Ravenna talking,  _ and _ was the straightest girl Bellatrix knew to boot. Everything would...probably be fine. 

At least, it would be if someone would leave her alone, but instead there was another knock. She huffed and threw herself out of bed, walking over to the door with a huff. “What?” She snapped, before registering that it was a rather nonplussed looking Lucius Malfoy who’d been knocking. 

“There is...something going on with Ravenna.” The fifth year said slowly. “And I thought you might like to see.” Bellatrix felt a pit in her stomach, and quickly nodded, following him back to the Common Room after shutting her room.

Whatever Bellatrix had expected to see, it had not been what she saw. Ravenna was standing in a cleared out space in the Common Room in front of no less than four chalkboards, all of them covered in writing. Ravenna herself was lecturing the room on...something, while their House mates watched in rapture. Not even horrified or amused rapture, despite the way Ravenna was slurring every fifth word and stumbling whenever she moved to write on a chalkboard. 

Bellatrix blinked. She had never seen Ravenna  _ drunk _ before. She looked over the chalkboards and blinked again as she realized that the writing on the boards was clear, concise, and well written. Entirely coherent in fact, aside from one part on the third chalkboard where Ravenna had apparently gone on a tangent about how all red trunks should be destroyed and weren’t to be trusted before getting back on track. 

“She’s been like this for the last three quarters of an hour.” Lucius murmured, staring at Ravenna with fascination. “She was talking with Zabini about politics and then she conjured up a chalkboard to better illustrate a point. Then other people started watching and...somehow it just sort of morphed into a lecture.” 

“Is she...talking about overthrowing the Ministry and creating a monarchy?” Bellatrix asked incredulously. She’d missed most of the lecture obviously, but reading the chalkboards she got the gist. 

“She’s rather charismatic, even when she’s clearly drunk. I dare say half the professors here couldn’t explain things so well.” Lucius replied. “But yes. She seems to have decided the best option to deflate tensions between Purebloods and Mudbloods is to install a monarch. And while I’m not convinced, she’s not making a fool out of herself. She’s made good points.” 

“She also shouldn’t be this drunk.” Viola murmured, sliding up the two. “She had  _ a _ glass of my family’s mildest wine.” She held up the glass in question. “You’re the best at magic here, tell me what you think.” Bellatrix frowned and pulled out her wand, doing a basic diagnostic charm on the glass before growling. 

“Someone cast a potency curse and a flavor enhancing charm on the wine. The first made it a  _ lot _ stronger, the second made it so she wouldn’t notice. Can’t tell who did it though, they weren’t that clumsy.” 

“So either someone was hoping to humiliate Ravenna...or they felt this was easier than a love potion.” Viola said grimly. “Not the worst strategy, but not something you should be doing to a fellow Slytherin.”

“Well either way it backfired.” Lucius said, waving a hand. “Ravenna’s the opposite of humiliated right now. I think I see some people taking notes in fact.” A quick glance around the room told Bellatrix that he was right. “And thanks to the audience, and presumably you, the second option can’t come to pass.” Bellatrix nodded firmly, slipping her wand back into her robe. 

“Thank you Malfoy. Zabini, maybe start charming your glasses defensively in the future, like they do at the Three Broomsticks and Leaky Cauldron.”

“Definitely.” Viola said, nodding as Bellatrix started working her way through the crowd to stand besides Ravenna. 

“And in closhing...there she is!” Ravenna said, distracted from whatever her closing statement was going to be by Bellatrix’s arrival. “Best girl!” She slung her arm around Bellatrix’s shoulders, and Bellatrix fought the urge to blush as she addressed the assembled students. 

“Alright everyone, that’s it for tonight.” She said firmly. “I’m getting our political professor off to bed. Take notes, make copies if you want, but vanish these things by midnight, alright? I don’t think anyone here wants word of  _ this _ getting back to the Headmaster.” There was a round of nods from almost everyone. Only a few confused first years who hadn’t learned that their Headmaster was a biased old git didn’t nod, but they’d learn, sooner or later.

“Right! Nobody tells Dumbledore!” Ravenna agreed, nodding and not letting go of Bellatrix. For her part Bellatrix didn’t mind too much. She wasn’t going to complain about Ravenna touching her, and it made dragging the taller girl out of the Common Room easier. She glanced at Andromeda and jerked her head, and her middle sister nodded, slowly working her way through the murmuring crowd.

“Everything’s fuzzy.” Ravenna murmured as they entered the hall where their rooms were. 

“I’m not surprised.” Bellatrix replied wryly.

“Not you though. You’re soft and warm and...present, y’know?” Ravenna stepped away and in front of Bellatrix, looking down at her intently. “And so...pretty.” Bellatrix blushed, then her eyes widened as the other girl leaned in for a kiss. 

“Nope!” Bellatrix said firmly, giving the girl a shove. “Our first kiss will not be while you’re drunk off your ass. I’m going to kiss you so hard you forget how to breathe and you’re going to  _ remember _ it the next morning dammit, which means not tonight.” 

“But Bella!” Ravenna whined. “I want to!” Bellatrix felt something dark and hungry stirring inside of her. It would be really easy, she knew. She could send Andy back, follow Ravenna into her room, and just...have fun. Ravenna probably wouldn’t even be upset in the morning. Zabini hadn’t been wrong about drunk girls being a bit easy.

She firmly and harshly stamped that part of her down. No, even for her there were lines she wasn’t going to cross.  _ Especially _ not with Ravenna. Yes she fully intended on fucking the other girl’s brains out, but when she was sober dammit. She’d fuck her sisters before she fucked a Ravenna who was this out of it. 

So she was rather relieved when Andy showed up finally. “No. You’re going to bed. Andromeda’s going to help you get into pajamas, okay? Make sure you don’t fall over and hit your head or anything.” Andy looked a bit put out by this, but Bellatrix shot her the most pleading, desperate expression she could. For all her conviction at the moment, Bellatrix knew her own limits and she knew exactly how quickly her morals would fall apart if she started helping Ravenna undress, particularly while next to a bed. Andy frowned, but nodded and carefully led Ravenna into her own room. 

Bellatrix waited outside, staring intently at the door, until, ten minutes later, a rather tired looking Andy emerged. She urged her sister to the side, then drew her wand and started adding extra warding to the outside of Ravenna’s door, just in case. “What the bloody hell was that?” Andy demanded.

“Someone enchanted the wine Ravenna was drinking with Zabini.” Bellatrix growled. “Made it stronger than it was supposed to be by quite a bit, and made it so she wouldn’t notice the difference. Good news is this...probably wasn’t the result they were hoping for, bad news is that...well, you saw.”

“That’s...well fuck that’s disgusting.” Andy murmured, blinking rapidly. Bellatrix nodded as she stepped back and examined the door. She’d made it about as impossible for anyone to break in as she could manage without carving into the wood or using blood.

“Yeah. So...stay away from alcohol for the next little bit, okay?”

“...I was going to do that anyway, but yeah.” Bellatrix sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She was going to have to pop up to the seventh floor for some hangover cure she knew. She couldn’t brew one, and a House Elf would tell staff if she requested one. She had an invisibility cloak, albeit a shitty one that had maybe a year left in it. Ravenna had the Potter family cloak, which was in much better shape, but she hadn’t told Andy about it and Bellatrix wasn’t about to go in and get it. “Thanks.” 

“Of course.” Andy replied quickly. “Just...let’s not make a habit of it, shall we?” Bellatrix chuckled. 

“Gods I hope we don’t.” She said before heading off to her bedroom. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Thank you for reading! I hope y'all liked this newest chapter!
> 
> So, some character discussion. These things will come up in later chapters, but I figure they're also worth discussing now.
> 
> Violet is...largely terrified of her Slytherin side. There's a few different reasons for this, but generally speaking her opinions haven't changed much since second year, on the topic of her doing well there or on Slytherins in general. The idea of being overtly ambitious or cunning terrifies her, cause, well, the Slytherins she's interacted with in her time were pretty much universally assholes, even the ones that weren't Death Eaters. So the fact that her mind keeps going back to making *herself* the witch queen terrifies her. 
> 
> And on top of that, the desire to have good relations with her fellow Slytherins means that Ravenna has rather firmly leaned into those traits to have a good/worthy reputation. So Violet's dealing with Ravenna's experiences that demonstrate exactly how ambitious and cunning she can be, and that's stressing her out too. (Ravenna and Violet are the same person just in different circumstances, especially with how the trunk's empowered Violet to make changes, but in Violet's mind they're still separate people, and it's going to be a while before she accepts that they're the same) 
> 
> As for Bellatrix...yeah this isn't going to be one of the fics where Bellatrix turns out to have been tortured or mind controlled into joining the Death Eaters. She's not really a good person. But right now she's trying to be. Not just for Ravenna, but for her sisters' sake. In a world without Ravenna, where Andromeda 'abandons' her for Ted, and Narcissa winds up going down a Death Eater adjacent path, things go bad. Right now my goal with Bellatrix is to explore someone actively trying not to turn into a villain, but who still has some darker urges and feelings. Hope things didn't get too harsh there.
> 
> Anyway, thank y'all for reading once more! Please feel free to comment with any questions/comments/ideas/reviews, etc! See you next time!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there everybody, thank you for reading this! 'tis one of my sillier ideas, but I hope you liked it anyway! 
> 
> So, to address some things that might be bothering you.
> 
> Firstly, the nature of Violet/Ravenna's relationship altering abilities. It's not as broken as it might first seem. Firstly, it cannot alter her relationship with anybody she hasn't met yet (she can't cheat when she meets Voldemort). Secondly, it can only alter them in proportion to how much time she could reasonably have spent with them (this mostly impacts the professors). And thirdly, some of her other relationships have far reaching impacts. There's going to be doors closed to her already by virtue of being Bellatrix's best friend, for instance. So yeah, she doesn't have console commands, just a leg up in figuring out some relationships.
> 
> Also, canon timeline and ages...throw 'em out, more or less. We're starting in 1967 cause that's when Bellatrix was 16, but she, Voldemort, and Narcissa are pretty much going to be the only ones their canon ages, just because it's more fun if the baby Marauders, Lily, and Snape are running around too. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks again for reading, feel free to leave comments down below if you have any questions/concerns/comments or reviews! I do try to reply to all of them!


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